Faith Friday

FAITH FRIDAY

 

 

I just saw the movie "The Book of Eli" on TV.

I know, it is has been around awhile, but I don't go to the theaters.

 

 

 

I don't even watch many movies on TV anymore. I don't care for all the violence, focus on lots of blood and guts, and foul language. Unfortunately, this movie has plenty of all three and why it is rated R. I decided to watch it as I love Denzel Washington, and he is just too handsome!

It took awhile to discover the real theme of the story, and that theme is a gem. I didn't know anything about the movie so was very surprised. It really promotes the value of the Bible and perseverance. Today we take it for granted because there is no shortage of Bibles. For many it is just another old book. Even people who call themselves Christian often don't put enough value on the book.

This movie is a good example of how God chooses certain people to carry out His plan. And then He protects those people, at least until they finish the job He sets before them. And God's word - the Bible - will always last to bring His word and His promises to the next generation, and the next. The movie also shows how God equips His chosen people so that they can carry out His plan to the end. It shows the value of perseverance, and the value of constantly reading the Bible. For in the end, after Eli gives up the Bible to the enemy, he continues to march on to the west until he gets there. And then he recites the Bible word for word through all 66 books while another man writes them down so that he can print more Bibles.

A Christian revue of the movie mentions the violence and language and that it is a shame whole families can't see the movie, and yet, when you think about it, after such desolation of the world, and with Satan in control, there will be violence just to survive, and the language is already bad in this country so it would be a pretty true picture of what we might find at that time. It will truly be hell on earth.

So, if you haven't seen the movie, go out and rent a copy. Watch it first and then decide if you want your kids to see it. I do think you may be blessed in certain ways. I know I was.

Down Memory Lane - Mystery Solved

Mystery Solved

Thanks to findagrave.com I was able to find my great grandmother's grave. I didn't know, or didn't remember, her first name so had no idea how to look her up in the genealogy sites. I had tried to find the grave where I remembered it when I went along with my mother to put flowers there on Decoration Day (what is now called Memorial Day). But walking all over the area I never came across it. And now I found a picture of it, with her name, date of birth and death!

And then, as I was looking through the picture album one more time, to find pictures to scan for the blog, I found this picture of her! Plus, today I found a picture of the gravestone in the book as well, but it is just of the large stone that has only the last name.

This lady is considered my great grandmother, but she is a step-grandmother to my mother. Unfortunately, I don't remember meeting her as she died a few months after I was born. She is the step-mother of the man in the picture below, who is my mother's dad. The man in the picture above is the husband of Grandpa's niece.

After finding great grandma's grave, I couldn't find a record of where my great-grandfather was buried, so that was another mystery. I think I found the answer today!! There is a small stone on the other side of the big one where great- grandmother is buried, but it just says "Father" above the dates. What threw me off was that the date listed on the findagrave.com site had the wrong birthdate. When I looked at the pictures again today I noticed the discrepancy and realized that was great-grandfather's birth date. So mystery solved! Goes to show that you need to look at information several times before things come together. This has all been very interesting but tiring as it takes so long. I wish I had a picture of great-grandfather. Maybe I will find one as I go through my pictures, but I don't remember having any.

One interesting fact I found by chance, is that this great-grandfather and several other Germans from Illinois moved to Iowa in 1883, and they started the country Lutheran church there. That church is about 3 miles north of the farm where I grew up. And, again thanks to findagrave.com I found the gravestone of his first wife, my grandfather's birth mother, is in that church's cemetery. She died in 1888 so that stone is really old and hard to read. I am so thankful that someone took that picture and put it on that site. I really had no idea where she might have been buried.

UPDATE: I have since learned my great grandmother's grave is not in the country church cemetery. Instead, she and an infant are buried in a very small cemetery less than a mile from the farm where I grew up! Most of the stones have been destroyed or disappeared, and it has been made into a nature preserve so it is not mowed. I didn't even know this cemetery was there. I stopped there and could barely see her stone from the road. I looked at a satellite view on Mapquest.com and I could see the shadow of the tower shaped stone!

I was able to find some of the census reports on a free website, and through scanning a lot of information I think I found my great-grandfather's middle name and the names of his parents. And I found the maiden name of my step-great-grandmother and the names of her parents. I haven't had time to look into that any further, but my mind is swimming right now. And time to end this. Several mysteries solved!

What's Cooking - Mom's Cinnamon Rolls

This is one of Mom's favorite recipes, and one I loved to eat. It was featured in the local newspaper sometime in 1958 or 1959. If you still like to make bread dough the old fashioned way, this recipe is for you. It won't fit in my bread machine, but maybe if yours makes 2 pounds it might work.

MOM'S CINNAMON ROLLS

1 cup milk
1 pkg dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
4 cups flour
1teaspoon salt
2 beaten eggs
1/4 cup salad oil

Scald milk. When cooled to lukewarm, add yeast (which has been dissolved in 1/4 cup lukewarm water), sugar, and 2 cups flour.

Next add salt, eggs, oil and remaining flour. Knead well, let rise until double.

Roll 1/4 inch thick, spread 3 Tablespoons butter over and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar to suit taste.

Roll and cut into 1 1/2 inch slices and place in greased pan.

Let rise until light.

Before baking, pour over top of raised rolls:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon butter melted
1/4 cup water.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 35 minutes.

This dough may be used for clover leaf rolls and doughnuts.
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Here is a tip for cutting the rolls.

Use dental floss. Put a length of dental floss under the long roll, bring up each end and cross over the top and pull tight. Roll is cut very neatly. I suggest you don't use the mint flavored floss, though.

(I know, I should have pictures of the process and finished rolls, but I was in a hurry to get this post written. Who knows, maybe they will show up later.)

Home, Sweet Home - Kitchen Hutch

KITCHEN HUTCH

Do you think I have enough cook books? The binders on the lower shelf are full of recipes printed from emails and the internet. I have one with the title "Menus". I do have a few in there but had good intentions of making up more menus, and that hasn't happened yet. Some of those menus I have copied from others, including Menus4Moms group, but they no longer send them in email, and I forget to check the website. They would include recipes with the menus, and shopping lists for each menu. Nice if you use them. Laying on top of the binders is a stack of loose recipes that haven't gotten into the books yet, because I want to try them one day soon. And there is a file folder full of some taken from magazines and newspapers.

The middle shelf is mostly various church cookbooks from the area, or from areas where I used to live. Nice memories in those books whn I see the ladies' names. There is also one that was my mother's, and is the kind you write in your favorite recipes and paste in those that you clip from newspapers and magazines. She died early in 1971 so they are older recipes. Some of those made it into my own binder like that as they became our favorites as well.

Top shelf - left side is recipe pamphlets and those that came with appliances. Next to those are two recipe boxes - one is mine that I started when I was in high school home-ec classes, and the other one is Mom's. Then there are a few odds and ends, including an envelope along the side that holds my coupons, if I get them in there. I see there are some laying in front of the books on the middle shelf.

I think it is time for me to get those shelves straightened up and give them a good dusting. The same goes for the collection of glass and crystal vases and dishes that sit on the top. That really looks junky, but have no room anywhere else to store them, plus they should be on display, just a better one.

I should have opened the doors at the bottom as that looks even worse! And I know there are some things I can get rid of in there. When I get around to that part I will try to remember to take before and after pictures of that. And once I get back to the upper shelves, I will get an after picture. But this is it for now. I have been busy with genealogy and want to work more on that right now, and the decluttering/cleaning will have to wait.

This 'n' That - Year Long Project

YEAR LONG PROJECT

 

Here is what I work on all year long, and have done so for more than a decade.

 

 

 

This is the result for this year so far, actually since last November since that is when I took the ones made last year down to the Sioux City Goodwill Industries office for their Christmas Shoe Party.That is when they give each child a new pair of shoes, socks, winter cap and mittens.

 

I was getting tired of having the heaped high wash basket full of caps that was taking up a lot of space in my bedroom closet and in my way. So yesterday I counted them and had 119 caps plus one scarf. I had used up almost all the yarn so was done for now, but when I took the caps out of the many grocery sacks they were stored in, I found one more ball of dark green.

 

 

 

So this is what yarn I have left. There is enough to make one more cap, so started knitting, and finished that last night. So then I had a smaller green ball, about the size of the larger white ones, plus the two larger white ones. And I started knitting on those today, but there will not be quite enough to finish the cap, so it will go in the large tin and wait until I am given more yarn. I now have 120 caps to take to Goodwill the next time I go to Sioux City.

 

This is a frugal project as I use up even the small balls of leftover yarn. I have a few people in town who will bring me their leftovers, and some will occasionally donate some new yarn. I used up my own stash of leftovers years ago so I depend on the donations of others. Sometimes I find a good clearance sale and will buy what is there. And if I or a friend find some at garaage sales at a cheap price, we will get those. Too often people are asking too much for what is left and I will pass those up and spend that money on new yarn. So this is not only a frugal project, but I guess you can consider it 'green' as well, since nothing but the tails get put in the landfill. I think some people even save the tails and put them out in the spring for the birds to make nests. I might try that next spring and see if the birds take them. I know they, as well as the squirrels,  love to tear apart my cocoa fiber planter liners and take away as many as they can carry.

Faith Friday - But God

FAITH FRIDAY

But God. . . . . .
This is from another devotional that made me do some thinking. I quote from "The Daily Bread" devotional from last year, and written by Julie Ackerman Link.
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Howard Sugden, my pastor when I was in college, preached many memorable sermons. After all these years, the one titled "But God. . ." still makes me stop whenever I come to those words in the Bible. Here are a few examples of verses that encourage me with the reminder of God's righteous intervention in human affairs:

"You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to.  . . save many people alive." (Gen. 50:20)

"Their beauty shall be consumed in the grave . . . . But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave." (Ps. 49:14-15)

"My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (Ps. 73:26)

"For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:7-8)

"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard . . . the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit." ( 1 Cor. 2:9-10)

Whenever you feel discouraged, look up some "but God" verses and be reassured of God's involvement in the lives of those who love Him.

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We may fail, "but God" is faithful forever. Whenever doubt enters our mind, remember that God is faithful. When darkness closes in, God is faithful.

Down Memory Lane - Little Girls

TWO LITTLE GIRLS

Mom and Me

This is my mom at 1 year and 7 months old. She doesn't look very happy at having her picture taken. Or maybe it was because she had to stand on that chair outside. Since she was born in Oct. 1908, this picture was taken in May 1910. My oldest granddaughter looked a lot like this at that age.

 



This is me around 2 years old. Nothing is written on the back of the picture so am not sure of age, but comparing it to one at 1 years old and another at 3, this looks somewhere in between. Even then I loved my kitties! And I bet Mom made my dress.

What's Cooking - Summer Slush

With summer finally here for all of us in the US, (I think), and it will be July 4 before we know it, I thought this old recipe would be a good one to have on hand for those hot summer days.

SUMMER SLUSH

4 cups sugar
6 cups water

Boil for 1 minute. Cool.
Then add:

1 can pineapple juice (46 oz.)
2  12 oz. cans frozen orange juice
1  12 oz. can frozen lemonade
5 bananas, mashed

Mix all together and freeze. Can also add any other fruit like cantalope, strawberries, peaches, etc.
When serving, scoop into dish and pour ginger ale or lemon lime soda over each serving.

'Tis Home Sweet Home - Favorite Flowers

 

FAVORITE FLOWERS

 

African violets. I love them. I remember my mother always having several sitting on the ledge of the dining room double windows facing east. I have had a few, off and on over the years. I didn't have very good luck with them in some of the houses we lived in and once they died I didn't replace them. Now I have two of them, both different colors and not the most common violet color - the one from which we get the color called violet. The one above is the largest one I have grown so far so maybe my thumb has gotten slightly greener.

 

 

This is the smaller one and a lighter pink. I really need to find a larger pot for this one. I keep forgetting to check in the supply I have in the garage. I would like to have at least one of every color but I don't have room for any more right now.

This & That - Old Hospital Bill

 

Can you believe this??

$20.50 for a 2-day stay in the hospital plus the operating room and lab fee. Total bill!

1947

This was for my tonsillectomy when I was 4 years old. I still remember being in that hospital and I hated it. I fought tooth and nail to avoid the rectal thermometer! I also remember the ice cream I got to eat. And after I got home I could drink tea.

Today, that $20 is just a drop in the bucket, but in 1947 I am guessing my parents may have even had a hard time coming up with that.

I wonder how much the doctor charged. I don't think I have that bill among all the old papers in the drawer.

When I had the cyst removed near my vocal chord at the beginning of the year, the ENT doctor said they did a really good job removing my tonsils and adenoids all those years ago. That is always good to know. :o)

 

(I debated putting this post in this category or Down Memory Lane. I guess it could go either way, but I needed a post for today.)

 



Follow the Rules

FAITH FRIDAY



Follow the rules! All too often we rebel against rules, don't we? After all, who obeys the speed limit? The speed limit on the highways here is 55 mph but 99% of the drivers drive 60 to 65 mph. We know that officers will not stop us for speeding up to 60, and will rarely get a ticket at 65. So why drive 55? Another rule broken. How often do we hear, "Rules are meant to be broken"? Are they really? If that is so, then why are rules made in the first place?

Some time ago I ran across this devotional that caused me to pause and think.
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Sometimes children can think that the rules parents provide are arbitrary and make their lives unnecessarily difficult—that they’re just meant to spoil all the fun. My three-year-old daughter Tabitha never wants to wear shoes, but the rule is she has to—especially when she is outside walking under one of the pine trees in our yard. When we grow up, we finally realize that the rules are actually meant, in most cases, for our benefit and welfare.
Jesus takes it all a step further when he says, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love” (v. 10 NRSV). Following the Lord’s rules is a way of experiencing his love. Furthermore, Jesus states, “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you.” Obedience to the living Christ is certainly not meant to make our lives miserable, or merely for our eventual benefit. It is meant for us to be able to experience his love and know true and lasting joy. It’s the kind of joy a child feels when she plays outside under the trees without getting a splinter to hinder the fun, the joy a son finds in seeing the eyes of delight on his dad’s face when he has done what was asked, the joy of pleasing the One who loves us.

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Doesn't this give us a good picture for the meaning of rules?

There is often a debate about the Ten Commandments and whether they need to be followed now that Jesus Christ has come. They were given to the Israelites such a long time ago, so they don't apply to us today, right? I don't think that is right.

Another argument is that the Ten Commandments don't need to be obeyed because they were part of the Old Covenant which is called the Covenant of Law, and that covenant became obsolete when Jesus introduced the New Covenant, the Covenant of Grace. It does say in Hebrews 8:13 --

   "By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear. " (NIV)


It is true that we are no longer under the Old Covenant, but not necessarily that the Ten Commandments are no longer needed. There were more laws included in the covenant and they were given to the Israelites just before entering the Promised Land. They needed to know how to live as a nation in this new land. And part of those laws were the ones for the tabernacle and the sacrifices for sin. With the New Covenant, Jesus fulfilled the laws of the tabernacle and sacrifices for sin because He is the sacrifice, the final one, using His blood, not the blood of bulls and goats. And He is our High Priest, who is always in the presence of God every day, not just one day of the year as the Jewish  high priests did. I could go on with that, but will just add that Jesus fulfilled those requirements of the Law - the Old Covenant - so those laws are now obsolete, as are many other laws of the Old Covenant.

But the question remains, does that mean the Ten Commandments are obsolete? What do you think? They are still good rules we need to live in society today. Our first obligation is to God, and then to our neighbors. Who are our neighbors? Everyone we come in contact with. Are we going to keep them perfectly, as required by the Old Covenant? No. But that is where the New Covenant comes in - grace. We don't keep the commandments because we have to or die, but because we want to live the best life we can on this earth. That brings us back to the devotional above. Read it again.

Down Memory Lane - Grandparents

 

MY GRANDPARENTS

 

 

 

Opa and Oma

My Dad's parents - Aielt and Aleida

 

I don't know when this was taken, nor how old they are here.  I do know that Oma died April, 1939 at age 66, so I know this was taken in the 1930's. Since I was born in 1942 I never met her. And by the time I can remember Opa, he had some dementia, probably Alzheimer's, though I doubt that name was used at that time. If you look closely, you might see a cigar in his left hand. I do remember him smoking stinky cigars often, and sometimes smoked a pipe. The pipe smelled better. He used Prince Albert in the can. Any of you remember that old joke? Kids would call stores and ask if they had Prince Albert in the can, and if they said yes, the kids told them they better go let him out. I just remember my mom looking for that brand especially at Christmas time as that would be his gift.

 

Opa would give us younger grandkids a silver dollar for our birthdays and I still have at least 2 of them. Somewhere I have a picture of Opa and me sitting on a bench outside when I was little. I will have to do some more digging to find that.

 

I can see the similarity between my two aunts and Oma, and most of my uncles looked a lot like Opa. I wish there was a picture of him wearing that hat in his hand.

Grandma and Grandpa

My mother's parents - William and Ada

 

I guess we called the Grandma and Grandpa instead of Opa and Oma so we could tell which ones were being talked about. This picture was taken in 1945. Grandpa was 65 and Grandma was 60. I didn't know them very well either as they moved to California a few years before I was born. I guess they didn't have a lot of money as I don't think they ever came back to Iowa on a trip. I think I saw Grandpa once, and Grandma three times. Grandma did not hear well, and my mother also had to wear a hearing aid, so I am thankful I still have very good hearing.

 

I remember their little house, and remember this really odd smell there and I didn't know what it was. Years later I found out it was eucalyptus. I don't know if she had some in the house and using it for a room deodorizer, or if there was some growing outside. I still don't like the smell but it will always remind me of their home.

What's Cooking?

 

In My Kitchen

 

 

Grands biscuits. Yes, I took the easy route and made them from a can. But I love them! I did get them from the clearance basket for $1.50, which is almost 1/2 price. I bought most of those in the basket - Grands biscuits, Pillsbury Cinnabon rolls and Pillsbury Caramel rolls. I had recently read on another blog that they can be frozen right in the can so thought I would take advantage of the sale and give it a try. I call that a God-incidence to have read that just before finding the good sale.

 

Then I tried a new recipe that I first saw on Facebook. The actual recipe is at this blog:
  http://hangingonbyaneedleandthread.blogspot.com/2011/06/rhubarb-dump-cake.html

(for those who quilt, this is a good site for that too)

 

The recipe is as follows:

 

RHUBARB DUMP CAKE

 

1 pound rhubarb, cut into 1/4" pieces (between 3 and 4 cups)

1 cup white sugar

1 (3 ounce pkg) strawberry jell-o

1 pkg yellow cake mix

1 cup water

1/4 cup butter, melted

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Spread the rhubarb evenly in the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle the sugar over the rhubarb, followed by the dry jell-o, and finally the dry cake mix. Pour the water and melted butter over the top. Do not stir. Bake for 45 minutes or until the rhubarb is tender.

 

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But I didn't follow the recipe exactly. A friend brought me some rhubarb, but it was pencil thin and most were not much longer than a pencil, so it only gave me a little less that 2 cups. I had a 6 oz. box of fresh blueberries in the fridge so added those. I bought them thinking I would make blueberry muffins but that didn't happen, so I knew they should be used. That still wasn't 4 cups. I had a bag of mixed berries in the freezer - blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries - so added those to make 4 cups. And when I went to the pantry to get some jello, all I had was one box of peach. With the blueberries and blackberries, it really didn't matter what color the jello was! I used a scant cup of sugar since the berries are naturally sweeter than rhubarb.

 

A dish of warm dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. . . . . heaven! With a dump cake, any fruit can be used and it will be good. I still want to make one with all rhubarb, but I need to tell my friend to let it get much bigger and longer before she takes some.

 





'Tis Home Sweet Home

BEFORE

 

I am ashamed to even show you this picture. Such a mess! But this is what my kitchen can look like after making a trip to Walmart. This is actually after several things were put away so this isn't the worst of it. The bags hanging on the chairs have either all the empty bags in it or some of the groceries that need to go to the pantry.

AFTER

This looks much better!. Not perfect but not that bad. The dishes have been washed and put away and the table is cleaned off, jacket and shoes put away, and presentable enough if someone came to the door.

This & That

THIS & THAT

 

 

There is a lot of this and that in this picture, don't you think? That is what Mondays on this blog will be about. Or at least I hope so. We will see how this goes.

You see, I have totally been disorganized with my posts so far. And my mind has not been very fruitful as to what to write, so my posts have been sporadic. I have been looking at some other blogs and many have a main theme, or each day has a theme. I have also gotten some ideas for what kinds of pictures to take. So the other day I sat down and wrote some daily themes. And when I think of something to write about I will write the post and then schedule it for publication in advance. I think that way I won't feel as pressured to get something posted. Here is the list:

Monday - This & That ( whatever doesn't fit in the other categories)
Tuesday - 'Tis Home, Sweet Home ( house, decorating, gardening)
Wednesday - What's Cooking (recipes, etc)
Thursday - Down Memory Lane
Friday - Faith Friday

I don't have a day for sewing, crafting and other projects, so unless I add Saturdays, they may be included either in This & That or 'Tis Home,Sweet Home. I think I would like to take weekends off, but we will see. This isn't written in stone yet, so there may be some tweaking or changing as time goes on. This is still a work in progress.

Down Memory Lane

My Childhood Home on the Farm

 



My mother still cooked with the old cookstove on the farm until they moved to town in 1960. She also had a propane gas 'modern' stove as well, mostly for cooking in the hot summers. But in the winter Mom started a fire in the cookstove, partly for the heat in the drafty old farmhouse. But she also cooked on top of the stove, baked in the oven, and there was a reservoir on one end where water was kept warm. I don't know how she did so well with baking in that oven since it would seem, to me, to be very hard to keep the temperature regulated. But she grew up with that so had lots of practice. She also would heat the wash water for laundry in a big copper boiler on top of the stove. Then it had to be carried to the washing machine. Nothing was easy. They didn't burn wood in the cookstove, but used old corn cobs saved after shelling corn from the field. The cobs were stored in a building next to the house (the back end barely visible in far right of picture above), and the front part of that long building was the garage, then the cob bins and next to that was the chicken mash (feed). Sometimes when we brought a basket of cobs in the house, a mouse would manage to sneak in with them. Eeeek! They would climb out when least espected!

One of my memories about a mouse is when one ran up my dad's leg, under his overalls! That is the only time I ever saw my dad dance!

We had to carry that chicken mash to the chicken house in buckets, sometimes loaded onto a child's Radio Flyer wagon (mine, and still have it). We also had to carry large buckets of water from the well for the chickens. That well wasn't very close either. Hard work. Nothing was automated in those days. Didn't have a garden hose either as there were no faucets to attach one to. It was a hand pump, the kind with a long handle that we moved up and down.

That is also how we got our drinking water. We had a white enamel pail that was set in the kitchen, and it had a long handled ladle in it. We drank from the ladle. Yes, we all drank from the same ladle, and we did not get sick. If one had a cold the water was ladled into a glass for that person. That water had a very strong metalic taste, but since that is what I grew up with, I thought it tasted really good.

There was no indoor plumbing at all, except for a cistern pump at the kitchen sink - also hand operated. And there was a drain pipe that ran outside to a small sump hole. I am very thankful we had that otherwise there would have been a big bucket under the sink that would have to be emptied, or the dishpan that we washed the dishes in would have to be taken outside and tossed. That was sometimes done anyway in the summer if we hadn't had rain for awhile. The flowers needed watering, and Mom had lots of flowers planted outside.


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Mom in her kitchen, ready to serve coffee and her famous homemade cinnamon rolls to company.

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Since there was no indoor plumbing, that meant sponge baths and washing hair in the kitchen sink. All water had to be heated on the stove. We used a cup or small saucepan to pour the water on our head. In the winter the sponge bath was often performed next to the large kerosene heater in the dining room. The family had to be warned to stay out before starting! One year my dad bought a bathtub size galvanized tub that we would bring into the kitchen, next to the cookstove to take our baths on Saturday nights. We took turns using the same water. (gasp!) I am thankful I am an only child!

Till next time. . . . .  . .

Comfort Food

Maybe this doesn't look so appetizing on the plate, but let me tell you, it was delicious! The picture won't be appearing in any magazine food section. LOL (no, I didn't set it on the floor to take the picture - this is my table top)

The menu:

scalloped potatoes and ham

green beans

toasted French bread with real butter

coffee with hazelnut creamer

 

Just good old Iowa farmer's meal. I had some leftover ham in the freezer that had been there long enough, and I ran across a recipe for crockpot potatoes and ham that sounded so good, and something I haven't had in a long time. The recipe is one I printed from an internet group that I belonged to for awhile. It was all crockpot recipes and now I have 2 big binders full of the recipes that sounded good to me. I will never get them all tried!

 

I found this one quite tasty. Next time  might add a little more cheese but it is good the way it is written too. Here is the recipe ~~

 

 

CROCKPOT HAM & SCALLOPED POTATOES

 

6-8 slices ham

8-10 medium potatoes

chopped onion - to taste

1  cup grated cheddar or American cheese (I used sharp cheddar)

1 can cream of celery or mushroom soup (I used mushroom)

paprika ( omitted -because I was too lazy by then to get it)

 

Put 1/2 of ham, potatoes and onions in crockpot. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then grated cheese. Repeat with remaining half. Spoon undiluted soup on top. Sprinkle with paprika. Cover in crockpot and cook on low 8-10 hours -- or on high for 4 hours.

 

 

I would advise to spray the crockpot with something like Pam first, or the plastic crockpot liners for easier cleanup. I too often forget to do that until it is too late.  About half way through cooking I also stirred it up to get the soup to coat it all as it was just sitting on top yet.



Pay Attention to Me!

This is the reason I don't get much done on the computer lately. He has never done this before, but now it has happened at least twice. I think I give him plenty of attention but now I think he is jealous of the computer. If I try to use the mouse, he will snap at my hand, and he won't let me pick him up to take him off the desk. Sometimes he just wants me to go in the kitchen and give him food, and does this to make sure I notice because I have to stop what I am doing.